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CASTING CROWNS KICKS OFF THE ALTAR AND THE DOOR TOUR WITH
18,000 FANS ATTENDING FIRST WEEKEND
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Photo Caption: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) professional
wrestler Shawn Michaels, also known as The Heartbreak Kid
(HBK), attended Casting Crowns' sold-out show in San
Antonio, Texas. Pictured backstage (L-R): Band members Megan
Garrett, Andy Williams, Juan DeVevo, Melodee DeVevo and Mark Hall,
Shawn Michaels, and band members Chris Huffman and Hector
Cervantes.
Michaels is a four-time
world champion: a three-time WWE Champion, and a one-time World
Heavyweight Champion. He was also the winner of the 1995 and 1996
Royal Rumbles and the first Grand Slam Champion.
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Christian music's top-selling act
Casting Crowns played to more than 18,000 US fans over the
weekend during the first four shows of its headlining The
Altar and The Door Fall Tour. The GRAMMY-winning band's
opening night of the tour was Thursday, Sept. 27 in San Antonio,
Texas, to a sold-out crowd of 4,800 followed by shows in El Paso,
Texas with 4,000; Phoenix, Ariz., with 5,400; and Anaheim, Calif.,
bringing in 4,200 on Sunday, Sept. 30.
San Antonio promoter Greg Carnes
notes, "I think this is a landmark show for San Antonio. I do not
know of any Christian music concert that has sold this many tickets
in the 12 years I have been promoting concerts in San
Antonio and the South Texas region."
Booking agent Ron Cantrell with
Jeff Roberts & Associates adds, "I've been a booking agent for
18 years and every time I see Casting Crowns it reminds me why I
started working in this industry in the first place. This group is
the real deal and I'm excited to see what God is going to
accomplish through them on what will be one of the largest tours in
the history of Christian music."
The Altar and The
Door Fall Tour presented by Aquasis will visit
36 cities through Dec. 2. The powerhouse lineup features
special guest Leeland and introduces John Waller. For tour
dates and more information, please visit
www.castingcrowns.com.
Casting Crowns has
scanned 224,000 units of new album The Altar and The
Door in the four weeks since its historical debut at No.
2 on The Billboard 200 chart. The album remains
No.1 on SoundScan's Top Christian Albums chart
and the project's first radio single "East to West" holds at No. 1
at Christian AC radio.
During their four-year
career, Casting Crowns have been honoured with a GRAMMY
Award, two American Music Award nods and multiple Gospel Music Dove
Awards serving as the industry's "Group of the Year" for the last
three years. Casting Crowns has been the most played
artist on all Christian radio formats combined, with seven
consecutive No.1 AC radio hits, and the group has sold nearly 3
million albums to date. Earlier this year, Casting Crowns set an
RIAA record as the fastest Christian music artist in its career to
have its first two albums certified Platinum, and only the second
in RIAA history ever to achieve it (the other being Jars of Clay in
2000). Casting Crowns' lead singer and songwriter is
full-time youth pastor Mark Hall, who is serving his 16th year as
student pastor at Eagle's Landing First Baptist Church in
Atlanta. All seven band members remain active in student
ministry in the Atlanta-area and tour part-time around their
local-church duties.
Beach Street
Records, an imprint of Reunion Records, a unit of Provident Label
Group, was launched by Mark Miller, founder and frontman of the
multi-platinum country music act, Sawyer Brown. SONY BMG
MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT's Provident Music Group is one of the world's
leading Christian music companies. Provident Music Group operates
under the umbrella of Sony BMG Nashville.
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